2) You didn’t have to contemplate what designer dress you would wear on leaving hospital hours after giving birth and consider whether your choice would be well-received or slated. Your biggest style dilemma was probably whether to dress your – still very noticeable – bump in over- or under-the-bump leggings

3) Ok, being preened by others so you look wonderful sounds nice on the face of it, but would you really want people fussing about blowdrying your hair, applying your make up for ages and squeezing your still swollen feet into heeled shoes? A quick flash of a mascara wand, a touch of Touche éclat under the eyes and a bit of lippy = job done in two minutes and then out of there

4) You didn’t have a photo call 12 hours after giving birth, with the pictures ending up in every UK paper and around the world. You probably had a few private snapshots, which you may have shared on Facebook if you were feeling particularly brave. You certainly didn’t care about whether you had a VMPL (Visible Maternity Panty Line)

5) You weren’t constrained by tradition when it came to name choices for your baby. Let’s face it, she was never going to be Princess Daiquiri or Princess Audi (both appeared on the list of unusual baby names 2014)

6) The world and its wife didn’t debate about your naming decision let alone run a book on it. Although family and friends may or may not have ‘discussed it’ in private

7) You didn’t have to prepare for The Queen coming over when your baby was three days old. The Telegraph is streaming live updates on this and also includes this useful counter… WHAT ON EARTH?

8) You didn’t have to get your boobs out in front of ma’am and her entourage

9)  You weren’t touted as a potential ‘Breastfeeding Ambassador’

10) You could be yourself

The post 10 Reasons to Be Thankful You’re Not a Royal Mother appeared first on The Parent Social.

Yesterday I was watching my four-year-old playing so wonderfully with her 19-month-old sisters; they were interacting so well and enjoying each other’s company immensely (it isn’t always like that by the way). I thought how great it was that there was just a two-and-a-half year age gap between them.

Sofia relishing the big sister role. How big is that bottle of expressed milk!?

The ideal sibling age gap is very subjective

It got me thinking about the ‘ideal’ age gap, how subjective this concept is and how it’d make an interesting blog post. Then, coincidentally, Internet rumours surfaced about the Duchess of Cambridge planning back-to-back babies (there’s 11 months between her and sister Pippa).

It’s a very personal choice and there are many motivations for making the decision. Then of course, things don’t always go to plan.

I wanted to have a substantial amount of time devoted to my first child, but didn’t want to have a big age gap. This was mainly because I had a self-imposed cut-off age for when I wanted to have children by and I wanted Sofia to have a sibling (or two as it turned out) that she would want to play with. If I’d, had Sofia in my mid-20s, I may have gone for a slightly bigger gap. She actually arrived eight days before my 30th, so ideally I was thinking of around a three-year age gap so I would almost certainly (if things happened as I wanted them to) have finished with the pregnancy thing well before I hit 35. As I say, a very personal choice.

I’d heard a lot about second-time infertility so had that in the back of my mind. As it turned out, I got pregnant immediately; meaning there’s a two year, nine month age gap. It would have been absolutely perfect for me had it not been for the curve ball of twins. With the pram we’d bought I couldn’t attach a buggy board so I often had a very weary toddler who, if we weren’t in the car, had no choice but to walk. It was quite hard at the start meeting the needs of a very active toddler wanting constant entertainment with the care of newborns.

Back-to-back babies versus big sibling age gap

I can definitely see the merits of back-to-back babies if you’ve decided you want two children and want to get the baby stuff done and dusted in a very short period. It also means there is a readymade playmate for baby number two. It does sound like very hard work and having a newborn whilst being pregnant would be tough and that’s before the challenges of having a one-year-old and a newborn. It’s also quite a strain on your body as it takes about nine months to a year for it to completely get back to ‘normal’ after giving birth.

At the other end of the spectrum is the big sibling age gap. I can really see the benefit of having one child at school before the next one arrives. As well as making life easier, child number one gets your undivided attention for many years of their life; then baby number two has a lot of one-on-one time whilst their older sibling is at school.

There’s a lot of research/talk about what the ideal sibling age gap is, but I’ve come to the conclusion that there is no actual ideal, it’s just what works for you. Of course Mother Nature also has quite a say in the matter.

The post What is the Ideal Sibling Age Gap? appeared first on The Parent Social.

Pregnant Katie Price compares her morning sickness to Kate Middleton’s! on.reveal.co.uk/YHRDrI

— Reveal Magazine (@RevealMag) March 10, 2013

Is Katie Price actually suffering from hyperemesis gravidarum like the Duchess of Cambridge – or is this another attempt to grab headlines? I’m not saying that Jordan hasn’t had bad – day long – morning sickness, but hyperemesis gravidarum is a very serious condition (affecting just 0.5%-2% of pregnancies).

I quote directly from Wikipedia here:

When hyperemesis gravidarum is severe and/or inadequately treated, it may result in:

• Loss of 5% or more of pre-pregnancy body weight
• Dehydration, causing ketosis, and constipation
• Nutritional disorders such as Vitamin B1 (thiamine) deficiency, Vitamin B6 deficiency or Vitamin B12 deficiency
• Metabolic imbalances such as metabolic ketoacidosis or thyrotoxicosis
• Physical and emotional stress of pregnancy on the body

I do hope this isn’t a publicity stunt. Anyone I have ever spoken to who has suffered with HG has described a total inability to go about their normal daily life.

The post Jordan compares herself to Kate Middleton – Does she really have HG? appeared first on The Parent Social.